Float like a butterfly, love like a bee
by MissCHSparkles
Summary: When Cosmos is forced to Earth for repairs, he learns he must stay there until he's full recovered. What happens when he takes an interest in a certain yellow scout? And what will Bumblebee do when he learns of certain customs fliers have? Read on to find out, written by me and Transformerfan123.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note. Written by me and Transformerfan123 with a pairing that's a bit different._

_Enjoy and please review._

Bumblebee groaned as he slumped down against a wall, he was utterly worn out. He'd just been on a triple shift and needless to say, he was exhausted. First shift had been boring watch duty and then he'd gone on patrol. Normally, that wasn't that bad but first it had rained heavily, he hated getting muddy. Secondly, some Seekers had flown by and started heckling him, keeping just far away he couldn't start shooting at them but close enough so that they could annoy him. He'd endured about three hours of this and was slagged off.

Cosmos looked down at the ground, feeling awkward as Ratchet's optics looked over his body carefully. He couldn't believe how stupid he'd been! He'd been flying for years and years! He, of all mechs, should know how to avoid a meteor shower! Despite the fresh repairs, he was sore and stiff, and he didn't like it one bit. Ratchet sighed, bringing him out of his dark thoughts.

"Well, Cosmos, you seem to be all patched up. _BUT_ I don't want you going back up in space for a while. You need rest and energon...and maybe you can get acquainted with the crew," he said with a smile. "In fact, let me call somebody in to show you around." Reaching up, Ratchet pressed his comm. link. _"Bee? Could you come to the med-bay for a moment?"_

Bumblebee groaned as he got the call, sure Ratchet was trying to trick him in there for a check up.

_"Is it urgent?"_ he asked with a sigh, he really just wanted to rest and unwind.

_"I need someone to show Cosmos around,"_ Ratchet said sternly. _"Tighten those bolts Youngling, get over here,"_

Cosmos sat there silently, trying desperately to put a face to the name 'Bee' and promptly found that he couldn't.

"Err...who's Bee again?" he asked, trying to sound casual. However, this only reinforced Ratchet's idea that the space going Mech really needed to socialize.

"Bumblebee, he's a Minibot scout," Ratchet explained briskly.

"Oh...yeah," Cosmos lied. He honestly couldn't remember who the frag Bumblebee was. His question was answered when, a moment later, the door slid open to reveal the mech himself.

Bumblebee entered somewhat moodily, it was an effort to keep from outright scowling. He recognised the Mech behind Ratchet vaguely as Cosmos, that Autobot who spent all his time in Earth's solar system, keeping an optic on Decepticon activities. He'd never spoken to the Mech though; he doubted the other even knew who he was.

"Um, hello," Cosmos said shyly, waving half-sparkedly at the mech who was obviously not happy to see him.

"Hi," Bumblebee said a little more shortly than normally, causing Ratchet to cuff him around the head.

"Bee, behave," Ratchet hissed. "Cosmos doesn't often get to come down to Earth, I want you to show him around base, introduce him to a few bots and be_ friendly."_

"If he doesn't feel like it then he doesn't have to," Cosmos protested weakly. "I don't want to be a bother."

Bumblebee felt a twinge of guilt, it wasn't this Mech's fault, he hadn't asked for Bee to come. So he quickly tried to smile a bit more and said.

"It's alright, I'm not doing anything. Is there anything in particular you want to see?"

Cosmos lowered his head, blushing beneath his facemask. "I...don't really know what there _is_ to see."

"Well, why don't I take you round the main places where bots go?" Bumblebee suggested and as Cosmos nodded, said.

"Come on, we can visit the Rec Room first."

Cosmos hopped off the berth and followed, curious. He wasn't really sure what that was, but it sounded interesting. He stayed behind the yellow mech, keeping his head down and avoiding optic contact with the mechs down the corridor.

As bored as he got up in space, it was peaceful and he felt safe there. No one could really hurt him while he was there and it had been so long since he'd interacted with other bots, not counting speaking over the long range comm. He felt ashamed about this but just couldn't bring himself to meet anyone's optic.

"Hey Bee?" Cosmos asked quietly. "Is...there energon in the Rec room?"

"Uh...yeah of course," Bumblebee replied, turning to look at Cosmos on surprise. "Haven't you ever been to a Rec Room?"

"Maybe...I can't really remember. I've been up in space for a long, long time..." Cosmos wished the floor would swallow him whole as his blush spread up to cover his whole face; his facemask wouldn't cover all of that.

"Oh," Bumblebee said, not sure what to say to this. He couldn't imagine living alone for so long, in the empty voidness of space, he'd go mad. "Well...I'm sure you'll like it, it's a bit quiet this time of day but there's still plenty of Mechs about."

Bumblebee probably thought that would make him feel better, but it didn't. It made him even more nervous and he started playing with his hands.

"How...how busy will it be?"

Bumblebee frowned at this question, this Mech really was jittery.

"Not too bad, probably no more than a handful, just enough that it doesn't feel empty."

Glancing at Cosmos's worried expression, he said quickly.

"Hey don't worry about it, you'll be fine."

Cosmos just nodded and followed the mech into the Rec Room. Glancing around, he noticed that there was only three tables occupied. The mechs sat in groups of three and four, chatting amicably. Bumblebee directed him to a table and he sat there while the yellow mech got him energon. He could feel optics on him and was embarrassed; many mechs didn't even know he existed.

In fact, he was pretty sure the ones in this room didn't know who he was at all, not with the way their optics were boring into him. Finally, a red Minibot said loudly and aggressively.

"Who's the slag's that?"

Cosmos jumped and answered shyly. "I-I'm Cosmos," he muttered. "I-I'm a r-reconnaissance mech. I work up in space."

The green and yellow mech looked around for Bumblebee, but the yellow mech had mysteriously vanished.

He didn't realise Bumblebee had had to rush off to the waste extractor, he'd suddenly needed to go and completely forgot about Cosmos. But even if he'd thought about him, he'd have imagined he was perfectly safe in the Rec Room for a few minutes.

"How come we've never seen you before?" the angry red Minibot now demanded.

"I don't come down often," Cosmos replied. "I don't really have any need to, except to refuel, and my fuel reserves are pretty large, or for missions, and Prime usually just comms. me."

This didn't seem to placate the angry Mech at all, shoving himself to his feet, he now said suspiciously.

"Really, you spend ages up in space completely alone? How do we know the Cons haven't gotten to you?"

Cosmos blinked. "Cons? I-I don't...What are you talking about?" he asked desperately.

"Then why are you stuttering?" The Mech said cruelly as though Cosmos had just confessed to murder. "You wouldn't do that unless you were guilty."

"I don't even know what a Con is!" Cosmos exclaimed, pressing back against the wall. "P-please, just leave me be!"

"Ha, that's a good one, don't know what a Con is," the Mech laughed sarcastically, coming even closer now. "You think I'm stupid or something?"

Cosmos felt something wet rushing out of his optics and he reached up to touch it. After a second, he remembered what it was called: crying. It was a reaction to extreme emotions. He didn't like it as it only made Cliffjumper smirk meanly.

"What, you crying? Little freak, you're probably a Con reject, they probably don't even care about you."

Cosmos huddled back as little noises started to come from his vocalizer. He didn't like this. Why were they being so mean? He really _didn't_ know what a 'Con was! He didn't like this red mech who made him feel lower than dirt.

He could feel the other Mech looming over him and some sixth sense told him he was about to get hit or worse. He squeezed his optics shut, waiting for the first blows to fall...

"Hey, what's going on here?" a new smooth but angry voice said loudly.

Cosmos flinched and let out a sob, expecting the new mech to come at him with more harsh words. He flushed and whimpered, cowering away.

"N-no more!" he squeaked. "P-please! I r-really don't know what a 'Con is!"

"Cliffjumper," the new Mech growled and Cosmos heard footsteps marching over. "Leave him alone, what has he done that's so bad?"

"I've never seen him Jazz! He could be a damned spy for the 'Cons!"

Cosmos hid his face, shuddering fearfully. He let out another strangled sob.

"Do you really think a con would just walk into the Rec Room like that?" the Mech called Jazz demanded. "Man, you have some serious issues if you jump on every long distance Autobot that comes visting."

Jazz? That name sounded familiar, and now that he thought about it, so did that voice. Within a second, he knew who the mech was: third in command to Prime himself.

"J-Jazz!" Cosmos whimpered thankfully; he often was debriefed by the mech. "W-what did I do wrong? I don't understand!"

Jazz sighed heavily as he came closer and gently laid a hand on Cosmos's shoulder, who flinched.

"Ya didn't do nothing, this here Mech thinks that every stranger that walks in here is a Con...Decepticon," he explained, sending a glare at Cliffjumper. "Go and report ta Prowl, ya can explain ta him what ya wer doing," Jazz snapped before turning back to Cosmos.

"What ya doing here on ya on, ain't no one with ya?"

"The little yellow mech was but I don't know what happened to him! He told me he was getting energon then disappeared!"Cosmos whimpered, wiping at his face. "I-I don't like being here anymore. I wanna go back up in space!"

"Little yellow Mech...that must be Bumblebee," Jazz said with a frown as an angry Cliffjumper left. "Ain't like him to leave just like that, I'll call him."

_"Bee?"_

_"Yeah Jazz?"_ Bumblebee answered a moment later.

"_Care ta explain why ya left Cosmos all alone in the Rec Room?"_

_"Had to go to the waste extractor. Urgent. Um, why?"_

_"Because CJ decided tah have a real go at him, that's why. Calling him a Con and stuff."_

_"Slag!"_ Bumblebee gasped. _"I'll be right there!"_

Bumblebee cursed as he raced down the corridor, how could he have been so stupid as to leave Cosmos there without warning? But he really hadn't thought, he was sure the Mech would be fine in the Rec Room but he'd forgotten about Cliffjumper.

As he skidded into the Rec Room, his Spark thudded with guilt as he saw the state cosmos was in.

Cosmos still couldn't stop crying, even though he was wiping at his face. He was pressed into Jazz's side looking like a lost puppy.

"Cosmos...I'm really sorry," Bumblebee hastened to apologise. "I really had to go, the waste extractor, I'm sorry for leaving you, I didn't think..."

"Ya babbling Bee," Jazz said gently and the yellow bug shut up.

Cosmos simply sniffled. "I just want to recharge...How am I supposed to do that with gravity?"

"Hmm, how bout a hummock?" Jazz suggested with a grin. "That's a sheet you hung from the ceiling, sort of swings as you lie on that, you might find that more comfy than a berth?"

"Sounds good. Thanks Jazz," Cosmos said, a smile on his voice. "But...which room am I sleeping in?"

Jazz shot Bumblebee a meaningful look prompting the minibot to say quickly.

"You can sleep with me if you want, I got plenty of room. My place's quiet quiet too, you can get some real peace there."

Cosmos nodded. "A-alright. Thanks. C-can we head there now? I-I don't wanna be around a lot of mechs right now."

"Okay," Bumblebee said sheepishly, offering a hand to the other, he looked like he needed it. Cosmos gratefully took his hand, mumbling a goodbye to Jazz as they exited the room.

Cosmos walked silently, feeling miserable. He knew it wasn't Bumblebee's fault, but he was still hurt by Cliffjumper's words.

"so uh...I got some Energon stored in my room, you want a cube while I set up your hummock?" Bumblebee asked nervously.

"Sure," Cosmos said quietly, scuffling along. Bumblebee moved ahead of him and he kept his head down, not noticing the oncoming mech until he crashed into him.

"Ouch!" Cosmos exclaimed then looked at the mech he'd bowled over. "Optimus! I'm sorry sir! I was just..."

Cosmos cursed his stupidity as he hurried to help the Prime up.

"It's alright," the Prime said with a small chuckle as he was helped up. "I wasn't paying attention, apologies."

He looked kindly down at the both of them as he said.

"Are you enjoying your time on Earth, Cosmos?"

Cosmos looked down. "No," he said after a moment; he couldn't lie to his leader.

Optimus frowned as he looked from one to the other.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

"A red mech started asking me funny questions and...I don't really know what happened. I started...crying?...Yeah, that's the word, and he just got meaner."

"Cliffjumper," Optimus said with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry about that, he gets paranoid about new Mechs, thinks their Decepticons spies. I'll have a word with him about not jumping to conclusions and bothering guests."

"That's what Jazz said. I like him. He looks just as nice as he sounds," Cosmos said with a smile beneath his mask; he didn't feel shy around the Prime, as he was one of the few mechs he ever talked face to face with. It was nice, and Optimus never made fun of him for doing things that weren't socially normal. He understood the fact that Cosmos got very little interaction with other mechs and truly didn't understand the finer socializing points.

Prime's gaze grew warmer as he said.

"Jazz certainly is a good Mech, that's why he's TIC. Now, why don't you run along with Bumblebee, he'll take good care of you."

Bumblebee blushed, he knew Optimus was placing a lot of responsibility on him, he couldn't fail.

Cosmos nodded. "Thanks Optimus. See you later."

Cosmos watched as Optimus walked away and immediately grew less confident. He slouched and sighed miserably.

Bumblebee smiled sadly, wishing he had Optimus's gift of making everyone feel better. Oh well, he'd do his best, hopefully Cosmos wouldn't be too traumatised by the end of this.

Cosmos followed Bumblebee to his quarters and was pleased by what he found. It was small and quaint, but comfortable and there were no other mechs around. He smiled.

"I like it," he said quietly.

"Thanks," Bumblebee said with a small smile. "I like to keep it tidy, feels better when I come home and it's all done."

Cosmos nodded and looked at the berth. "Is this the thing you sleep on?" he asked, plopping on it and discovering that it was soft.

"Yep, that's my berth," Bumblebee said with a nod, going over to a cabinet to get what he needed. "You like?"

"It's soft," Cosmos said with a giggle. "I can't remember recharging on one of these things!"

"Really?" Bumblebee said in surprise before blushing slightly, of course Cosmos probably wouldn't.

"Here's your cube," he said softly, handing the other the cube, he had a large canvas flung over his other arms. "I'll just put this up for you."

"Oh, thanks," Cosmos said appreciatively then took off his mask and drank deeply; it had been a long while since he'd refuelled.

Bumblebee started setting it up, he knew how to do it as he and Spike had once had a fun weekend experimenting with human things. A hammock had been one of them and although it took Bumblebee a while to secure it, once he was finished, he was pretty pleased with the result.

Cosmos sighed as he finished the cube. It felt nice to have fresh energon in his system.

"You're being awfully nice."

Bumblebee flushed as he said.

"This is what I'm normally like...I'm sorry I was grouchy earlier, I just got off a triple shift and was really tired. I didn't mean to snap."

"Oh...Sorry. I wish I could relate, but my shift never really ends," Cosmos said with a smile curling his lips.

Bumblebee winced.

"That must be rough," he said as he came to sit on the bed.

"Not really," he said quietly. "It's nice. I don't really have much to do most of the time so I entertain myself by exploring."

"I like exploring too," Bumblebee said. "There are so many amazing places here on Earth, it never gets tiring."

"Oh? Maybe...you could show me around sometime? I don't get to hang around on planets very often," Cosmos said quietly. He looked down at his empty cube. "Is it alright to ask if I can have more?"

"Sure, no problem," Bumblebee said, taking the empty cube to go refill it. "So...do you get a lot of Decepticon activity up in space?"

Cosmos snorted. "Back on Cybertron, yes, but not here. Few can exit Earth's thick atmosphere, including the Decepticons."Cosmos looked down at his hands. "I know this probably sounds selfish, but...sometimes I wish I could live down here. Then I get down here and just want to go back up into space. I don't understand the little social cues and things that other mechs do. I'm so alone all the time...I'm sorry," the mech said suddenly, a blush darkening his cheeks.

"I didn't mean to ramble. Prowl gets on to me when I start to do that, but Optimus doesn't seem to mind that much...Do you mind me, Bumblebee? I know I'm different and all so I'd completely understand if you _do_ mind me and my odd ways..."

Cosmos trailed off and glanced up at Bumblebee with his big blue optics.

"I don't mind you," Bumblebee said softly. "We all have our little quirks. You should meet Bluestreak, once he starts talking, it's almost impossible to get him to stop. As for Prowl, well, he goes a little nuts if he's faced an illogical, like some of the ridiculous pranks the twins pull."

Cosmos blinked slowly and took a swig of his fresh cube. "I know who Prowl is, but who are the twins?" he asked curiously.

Bumblebee shook his head with a smile. "If you stay here for any length of time, you'll soon know. Their names are Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, their pranksters who drive Prowl insane with their pranks."

He shot Cosmos a grin, saying.

"I'm sure you can imagine Prowl after his office has been painted pink."

Cosmos frowned. "...Not really, but I believe he would be very angry," he finally said. There was a pause. "You know, you're really nice."

"Thanks," Bumblebee said with a soft smile. "You're nice to talk to Cosmos; I never get to talk to anyone new."

Cosmos blushed. "I-I appreciate the lie, but there's no need. I know I'm not the best conversation. I don't understand enough to be," he muttered, making it very apparent that he had very low self-esteem.

"It's not a lie," Bumblebee said with a frown. "That's why I enjoy living on Earth, there are so many different people to meet and talk to. We're such a small group of bots that everyone gets to know each other pretty fast and we miss the chance at meeting others. It doesn't matter if you're great at talking, you can still listen and comment."

Cosmos smiled and ducked his head, still half unsure, but willing to believe the bot. "Thanks Bee...Um, aren't you hungry? You haven't touched any energon."

"Huh, oh, almost forgot," Bumblebee said with a smile, lifting his cube up and taking a deep gulp. "Thanks.

Cosmos shrugged. "A lot of mechs need energon more frequently than I do," he stated simply as he took another swig of his own.

Bumblebee nodded, that made sense. He knew all the flyers needed a higher level of Energon and more of it to function.

"So...um...how was your day?" Cosmos asked awkwardly after a pause.

"Good, apart from failing to look after you," Bumblebee said with a heavy sigh. "well, actually even before that, I'd just come off a triple shift, I was shattered."

"I'm sorry. I...Am I a burden? I could just go to recharge if you'd like. Let you rest?"

Bumblebee bit his lip, he didn't want to be a bad host but he was tired.

"How about...we rest and listen to a little Earth music, you can see what you think of it?"

Cosmos blinked. "Music? Blaster likes music. Umm, is it all that..._loud_? I don't know if I could recharge to that..."

Bumblebee chuckled. "Some music is loud but some is really soothing, there's actually some that's designed to help you go to sleep. Here, I'll show you."

He went over to his music deck and selected an appropriate track.

Cosmos smiled softly at the gentle music. He rather liked this kind. Downing the rest of his cube, the mech jumped up into his hammock and lay down.

"You know, I hope I get to stay for a while if a lot of the mechs are like you," Cosmos said quietly.

"I hope you do to," Bumblebee said honestly before saying," Cosmos, we sort of got started on a bad foot, why don't we start tomorrow over? I won't be slag tired and we can have some actual fun. Jazz will make sure no one bothers us.

"Sounds good to me," Cosmos murmured tiredly, off lining his optics.

"Great, it's a date," Bumblebee said, settling on his berth with a sigh, still holding his cube of Energon. He took careful sips, if he drank too fast, he wouldn't fall into recharge.

Cosmos hummed and listened to the calm music; it felt strange to not just be floating, but not unbearable. He felt himself sliding into recharge.

Bumblebee glanced over just as he was finishing his cube, and saw that Cosmos appeared to be in recharge. He smiled to himself, he hoped Cosmos slept well because he really did want to make an effort tomorrow, give the Mech a really good time.

Cosmos yawned as he awoke, stretching pleasantly. He hadn't had that good a recharge in ages. He sat up in his hammock and looked around the room, his gaze finally settling on his yellow host. The mech looked peaceful in recharge, face relaxed and pouty. All in all, he wasn't that bad looking, though Cosmos would never say that out loud.

He hadn't been with anyone since before the War and only because there were more Mechs like him once upon a time. But then, there had been bots for everyone, when Cybertron was thriving but now there were barely enough bots to keep the species going. Whole cultures had been reduced to barely nothing and while it meant more interaction between those who wouldn't normally go out, it also made things awkward.

Cosmos just couldn't see an attractive Mech like Bumblebee wanted to go out with a mech like him.

_Author's note. How do things progress the next day? Find out next time, until then._


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note. Written by me and Transformerfan123, hope you all like._

_Since you know what is happening next week Merry Christmas to all my readers and a Happy Hogmanay._

_Enjoy and please review._

Cosmos' kind also had had very bizarre mating rituals, like most fliers, and he was sure Bumblebee would spurn him if he knew even a portion of them. He sighed and lay back against the berth.

_'Besides,' _he thought miserably. _'It's been so long since I interfaced I'd probably make a fool of myself.'_

He sighed, he'd likely end up taking a lot of cold showers, because in the company of Mechs he found attractive, he tended to get a little...horny. This thankfully didn't happen while he was in space but it always happened whenever he left space. However, he'd just have to do his best to hide the fact, he wanted Bumblebee as a friend, he didn't want him scared off.

The little yellow mech began shifting as he slowly woke up and Cosmos immediately sat up to greet the mech. He belatedly realized that he had never put his facemask back on the night before.

He wildly searched for it with his optics but discovered it was several metres away and he couldn't get there before Bumblebee woke up. Just as he was trying to work out how to get out of this mess, Bumblebee opened his optics.

"Umm...morning," he said quietly, ducking his head.

"Morning," Bumblebee replied, stretching widely, he was used to having people sleeping over although it was normally Spike.

"Want some Energon here or in the Rec Room?" he asked with a yawn, sitting up in his berth, not yet noticing that Cosmos had no face mask on.

"Um, here if you don't mind...I don't like being so...open around others," Cosmos muttered.

"Okay, no problem," Bumblebee said easily, feeling two cubes up before taking one over to Cosmos. He blinked.

"Hey, your mask is off."

"Um...yeah. I took it off to eat last night," Cosmos said shyly. "Please don't stare. I hate my face."

"Do you?" Bumblebee said in mild surprise. "Why's that?"

"I don't know," Cosmos said sadly. "A lot of mechs used to tell me it's to pale and thin for a mech as...large...as I am and that yellow was definitely not my colour."

This made Bumblebee grin.

"Well, yellow's definitely my colour, I think you look good."

Cosmos couldn't help but snort in derision. "Sure I do."

"I mean it, you look great," Bumblebee assured him. "Those Mechs were probably jerks, plenty of bots told me I look stupid."

"But you actually do look nice," Cosmos said with a frown. "I'm just a clumsy oaf when I'm not in the sky."

"You're a flyer, the sky is your natural terrain," Bumblebee said softly. "I know I'd look silly if I tried to fly."

Cosmos smiled. "Betcha look good racing."

"I hope I do," Bumblebee said with a laugh. "As long as it isn't against Mirage of Blurr, no one can beat them."

Cosmos shrugged, not know who the mechs were and not really caring. "So..." he said quietly sipping his energon. "What are we doing today?"

"Well, we could either explore the base or take a look outside?" Bumblebee said with a shrug. "Whatever you want to do."

"Right now? Can we explore the base?" he asked.

"Sure," Bumblebee said easily. "There's plenty to see, you interested in seeing Wheeljack's lab? He's our resident mad scientist, always blowing his inventions up."

"Oh? Is it...safe?" Cosmos asked warily.

"It should be, it's not all the time," Bumblebee assured him. "Wheeljack's lab is reinforced, we have to go past the rest of our science team before we get there, they'll tell us if it's not okay to go."

"Oh. Alright. Can we finish eating first?"

"Yep," the yellow bot replied, opening his cube up and started to drink from it. He noticed that Cosmos gulped it down, he didn't take it slowly.

Cosmos licked his derma plates and smiled. "You have good energon."

"Thanks, we've been using this planets sun to harvest energy," Bumblebee stated. "the Decepticons prefer to steal the humans fuel resources to make theirs."

"Oh, that's smart," Cosmos said with a grin. "I can't wait to see more of Earth. It looks pretty from up in space."

"It is," Bumblebee said earnestly. "They've got wide open grassy plains, large forests, sandy beaches, all sorts."

Cosmos' optics lit up brightly and he clapped happily. He was eager to see everything he could, especially if Bumblebee were leading him around.

Bumblebee grinned before asking.

"Need any help getting out of bed?"

"No, I don't think I do," he said quietly.

He jumped out of the hammock and his foot got caught, causing him to crash to the ground. A groan of humiliation left him and he covered his face.

"You alright?" Bumblebee asked in concern, leaping down and taking hold of Cosmos's arm. "Here, let me help you up."

"I'm so fragging clumsy," Cosmos whimpered, avoiding the mech's optics. 'Great, now he'll never want me.'

But Bumblebee just chuckled.

"You should have seen Spike, he fell out nearly every time he got into that thing. So did Bluestreak when he tried it, wasn't keen on repeating the experience."

Cosmos shrugged; he knew Bumblebee was trying to help, but he still was humiliated

"You okay?" Bumblebee asked with concern, seeing how Cosmos was acting.

"Fine. Just fine," Cosmos muttered.

"If you're sure," Bumblebee said kindly. "Come on, let's get going."

Cosmos nodded and, after slipping his facemask on, followed Bumblebee out of the room and down the corridor.

"Want to visit the science department first, most of the Mechs there are pretty calm and easy going," Bumblebee asked as they walked. "Perceptor can be a little stuffy but he's not bad once you get over his long words."

"Okay," Cosmos replied, getting a spring in his step as eagerness overrode his earlier embarrassment.

"One of the Mechs working there is called Skyfire, he's a Shuttle," Bumblebee said, hoping to really engage Cosmos. "He only joined the Autobots a few months ago, you know he crashed landed on this planet about nine million years ago?"

"Skyfire? A flier from the eastside?" Cosmos asked eagerly.

"I'm not sure where he's from but if he is, you'll know him, doesn't look any different," Bumblebee said with a grin. "Hopefully you are, he have many old friends remaining, at least not on this side."

"Oooh! Another flier!" Cosmos crowed, leaping up and defying gravity with a spin then stayed floating. He received quite a few strange looks at this.

"Wow," Bumblebee exclaimed at seeing that. "I'm afraid Skyfire's a little big to do that in here but maybe he'll come with us exploring."

Cosmos floated down the hallway eagerly, craving to see the mech that he thought he knew. He prayed to Primus that he did; he needed fliers for company.

"Come on, it's not far," Bumblebee said, walking at a slightly faster rate, pleased he'd gotten a good response from Cosmos, the poor Mech seemed to get depressed pretty easily.

Cosmos bit his bottom derma plate as they reached the door and he forced himself to the ground. He stood in fear as Bumblebee knocked.

"Come in," came a voice and Bumblebee opened the door and lead the way in.

"Hi guys, I brought a new friend with me," he said cheerfully, stepping aside so they could all see him.

Cosmos didn't even have to strain to see him.

"Skyfire!" he exclaimed, defying gravity again to embrace the mech. "It's been years! I thought you were dead!"

"Cosmos," the large Shuttle exclaimed in equal delight. "I can't believe it, you're an Autobot?"

"Of course I'm an Autobot!" Cosmos laughed. "I haven't seen another eastside flier in ages! Most of them were shot down in the great battles!"

Skyfire nodded sadly. "I haven't been able to find any...well, there is one but he..."

Skyfire swallowed, looking suddenly miserably and Cosmos asked tentatively.

"What's wrong?"

"Starscream."

At the name Cosmos' optics dimmed and he dipped his head. Tears came to his optics.

"The Trine. They were the best," Cosmos sighed. "What with Warp's abilities, TC's fighting skills, and Starscream's science...they were unstoppable. I talked to him the day before he transferred. Megatron did...things...to him and threatened to do the same to his wing-mates. That's why he switched, 'Fire. It's nothing against you."

"Really?" Skyfire said, staring at his old friend. "He...he is the one who originally found me on Earth and since I didn't know about the War, I joined the Decepticons before...well, discovering what their like. Starscream wasn't happy, he said I was to blame for everything that went wrong."

"You weren't. He said that to protect you. He sometimes comes out to talk to me in space. Megatron fragged him up. The things he talks about...all because of threats to his trine. He misses you terribly. It hurt him to shoot you, but...Megatron was going to kill you if he didn't. You and his trine. It would've destroyed him."

Skyfire stood there, taking it all in while the other bots in the room stared. They had no idea what was going on with Starscream and his Trine. Finally, Skyfire said.

"Cosmos, do...do you think he'd be willing to talk with me?"

"I can get a hold of him if you'd like. Tell him it's me. He's afraid of what you'll think of him. Afraid you'll reject him."

"I'd never reject him, I just couldn't...I couldn't stay with the Decepticons, I just couldn't," Skyfire said sounding even more upset but at the same time hopeful. "Please do get in contact with him, my friend."

"Of course," Cosmos replied. "I'll hook you up later. Now...who are these mechs staring at me like that?"

"You're friends with a Decepticon," Skyfire said with a wry smile. "They're still getting over the fact I used to be friends with him."

Cosmos shrugged then said in ancient, "Fliers are brothers that reign in the sky, they stay that way as the time goes by."

"So moot it be," Skyfire murmured back, easily remembering the flyer's code, for him, it wasn't dying a lingering death, it was still going strong.

Cosmos smiled nodded. "There are so few mechs that remember it. War destroys culture."

"Yeah," Skyfire said with a very heavy sigh. "It's strange seeing bots like Prowl unable to practice common Praxain customs, when it feels only yesterday I was flying over Praxis."

"Watching them 'facing on the roofs!" Cosmos laughed.

This really made Skyfire laugh.

"Hmm, I think that's why Prowl's going out with Jazz, he needs a Mech with a high interface drive."

Cosmos giggled and noticed that the mechs were looking a little bit angry at their conversation. "Um...maybe you should introduce us?" he asked weakly.

Skyfire nodded and gently placed Cosmos back on the ground.

"This is Cosmos, as I'm sure you've gathered, he's an old friend of mine from Cybertron."

"Hi everybody," he said weakly, waving tentatively.

They all murmured words of greeting, giving him curious looks but none were hostile.

Cosmos moved closer to his old friend, shyness welling up inside him.

"Umm, 'Fire? Can I talk to you after you get off? In private?"

"Sure, I'd enjoy talking with you again," Skyfire said warmly and Cosmos knew that this was one Mech who meant it.

"Thanks," Cosmos said with a smile. "So who are these mechs?"

Feeling like he should say something, Bumblebee piped up.

"Uh, this is Perceptor here," he introduced, pointing to the blood red Mech who seemed to be wearing a blue monocle.

"Hello Perceptor," Cosmos said kindly, making a strange little bow movement.

The Mech inclined his head, he looked rather stiff and disinterested but Cosmos somehow got the feeling he was like that with everyone. Bumblebee now pointed to a Mech with flashing fins on the side of his head.

"And that's Wheeljack, I uh, already told you about him."

Cosmos blinked and grinned beneath his mask. "You were the mech who blew up the science centre on the eastside, weren't you?"

"Eh...yeah, kinda hoped people would have forgotten about that," Wheeljack said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "But with you and Skyfire around, guess there's not much chance of that."

Cosmos chuckled. "It was pretty big news, especially for the fliers. They wouldn't let us in the sky for a week, Wheeljack."

This made his fins flash at an even faster rate, a sign that he was embarrassed. He'd certainly created chaos back on Cybertron, something which amused everyone in the room. Bumblebee now pointed to someone who wasn't exactly a scientist but was very knowledgeable in a certain field.

"Cosmos, this is Hound, he's our resident expert on all things organic."

Cosmos focused on Hound. "I recognize you too. You were the one who was constantly in the flier's crystal gardens. How did you get to them? They were floating miles above Cybertron!"

Hound grinned at this. "I had a friend who'd take me there; in return I'd use my holograms for him."

"Holograms? May I see?" Cosmos asked, tilting his head with a churr in his throat.

"Sure, just give me a moment," Hound said with the air of one thinking about which he could use. After only a few moments, he grinned and activated them. A flock of birds burst forth and started circling around the lab, making everyone jump but then relaxed as they knew they weren't real. And weren't likely to poop on anyone.

Cosmos squealed in delight, lifting off the ground in his delight. He loved holograms. They were so beautiful and lifelike, and he rarely got to see any.

"Wonderful!" he exclaimed, crashing into Hound and embracing him. With another churr, he nuzzled the mechs neck contentedly.

Hound blinked, he wasn't used to displays of affection like that. He opened his mouth stupidly, glancing around at the others and managed to catch Skyfire's optic, the Mech looked like nothing extraordinary had happened, a contrast to the others. He nervously patted Cosmos on the back, saying weakly.

"So uh, glad you like them."

Cosmos released the mech and twirled happily in the air. "I love holograms," he sighed.

Hound apparently decided to focus on this fact rather than his bemusement, so he said happily.

"The Decepticons sure don't, you wouldn't believe the number of times we've fooled them, I once even got them to retreat using a holo of Megatron."

Cosmos laughed. "Sounds funny!" he exclaimed.

Dipping down, he landed on the floor gently then bowed to the mechs, a low, sweeping gesture.

"Tis good to meet all of you. I hope to call you my friends and that you won't be like that little red mech from yesterday."

"He means Cliffjumper," Bumblebee cut in, glad to be able to do something. "He started on Cosmos yesterday, yelling that he was a Con and stuff, same old thing."

"...I still don't understand what I did wrong," Cosmos said with a whimper, his shoulders slumping.

"Trust me Cosmos, he does that to everyone who's new," Skyfire said gently. "In fact, he's still prone to giving me dirty looks as I was technically a Decepticon for a short amount of time. He also dislikes Mirage for being a former Noble."

"Noble? There's a Noblemech here?" Cosmos asked quietly.

"Yeah, only one though," Hound now said softly. "Cliffjumper thinks he's going to up and join the Cons but he's not, he hates what they've done to Cybertron."

"Hmm, I'd like to meet him," Cosmos said with a hum. "Another culture that's nearly died out..."

"I'm sure he'd enjoy meeting you," Hound said with a sad smile. "Most bots tend to judge him for what he once was, not consider just that he's lost more than wealth."

"Many mechs can still keep some traditions," Cosmos said quietly. "While the fliers, the nobles, the high Praxians are supposed to conform and pretend like we were never special."

Bumblebee stared, he'd never known that some of these bots felt that way. He was just an ordinary bot from Iacon, nothing special but these Mechs were in real pain over the loss of their culture. He wished he could do something to help...

"Hey, I've got an idea," he exclaimed and as they all turned to him, said. "Why don't we have a cultural festival, you know, celebrating all of Cybetron's different cultures."

Cosmos and Skyfire laughed, a bitter, angry sound. "Come on, Bee! The thought behind it is good, but no mechs wanna see fliers interfacing in the open or their mating rituals or anything else we consider 'normal'."

"But this could help the others understand what your culture is all about and how much it means to you," Bumblebee said stubbornly. "The humans do something similar and they've got loads of different cultures, including some that even we would find distinctly strange. But it's like Spike told me, the more they learned about each other with the spread of technology, the easier it was for them to get along."

"Run it by Prime first," Skyfire said with a shake of his head. "But I don't know if it's a good idea."

Cosmos sighed softly then spoke in ancient. "It's going to be Kaon all over again."

Bumblebee pouted, he didn't know what they were saying.

"Why are you so against it, I'd have thought you want more bots to appreciate your culture?"

Cosmos snickered and took off a piece of armour on his shoulder, baring scars.

"A flier's convention in Kaon. We were attacked and beaten back into the skies."

"But this isn't Kaon," Bumblebee pointed out. "I can see how maniacs like Megatron would do something like that but you know the Mechs here wouldn't do that."

"It wasn't just maniacs like Megatron," Skyfire said.

Bumblebee stilled and then asked.

"You mean there were bots there that you know now?"

Skyfire and Cosmos both shrugged, remaining silent with ice cold optics.

"There are, aren't there?" Bumblebee questioned softly. "Who are they? It can't be everyone here, maybe they could be on patrol or something, if we set this up."

Skyfire and Cosmos both just shook their heads. "Forget it Bee," Cosmos said quietly. "Just forget it."

Bumblebee scowled, he thought it was a good idea.

"You're going to let them win if you let your culture die," he muttered.

"Go along with the culture idea then. See why we keep quiet," Cosmos said with a shrug.

"I will," Bumblebee said stubbornly, he'd show them it didn't have to be bad.

Cosmos and Skyfire sighed together. They knew this wouldn't be good.

Bumblebee was as good as his word, a few cycles later, it had been organised and set up. Prime had been fine with the idea; at least he liked it but had cautioned Bumblebee to tread carefully.

Cosmos was in a corner with Skyfire and Powerglide, two of the few remaining fliers. They had all reluctantly changed their colour scheme back to the way it had been in the free days. Skyfire was no longer white and red, but a multitude of blues, reds, purples swirling together. Powerglide was a dark green and blue, while Cosmos had gone silver and gold with a touch of deep red around the seams; the final two had been forced to forsake their facemasks to better blend into their culture. They were all obviously nervous, glancing around with frightened optics.

It was a shame they were nervous because it was interesting how the others looked now. Prowl, Bluestreak and Smokescreen were not only polished to a fine shine but also had ornaments adorning their forms, their wing doors held rigid high. Bluestreak was nervously fingering a polished knife, this was a Praxain tradition, to carry around some sort of sharp weapon.

Cosmos had optics for Mirage, sitting all alone with a sad look on his face. Pity welling up, Cosmos hurried over to him and plopped down across from him.

"Hello, fair noble. You look handsome on this eve."

"Thank you kind sir," Mirage said, his voice sounding polite and grateful but Cosmos knew this was only due to his upbringing.

"So, this was young Bumblebee's idea?" Mirage now said, making conversation, probably to distract himself.

"Yes. I told him it wasn't a very good one. The _'normal' _mechs far outnumber us," Cosmos sighed. "I fear the little red mech, Cliffjumper. He's so cruel. And I know there are others like him here."

"There are," Mirage said with a heavy sigh. "But at least Prowl is one of us and he is fiercely proud of his heritage, he will be on the lookout for trouble makers."

"I'm afraid," Cosmos admitted. "I know something bad is going to happen."

Mirage sighed.

"Perhaps but we'll just have to bare it like we've always done," he said wisely before looking over the others. "I must admit, it is nice to see everyone wearing their proper colours and things...and I think those young Arielbots are very interested in what you, Skyfire and Powerglide are wearing."

"They need a proper education in flier culture," Cosmos agreed. "Some of it will probably freak them out, though. It's not 'normal' as they say."

"Perhaps not at first but I believe they do want to learn more, I hear the Decepticon fliers tease them about not knowing their own culture."

"Starscream mentioned they needed lessons. Especially on togetherness and brotherhood."

Mirage raised an eyebrow.

"You've spoken with him?" he asked, but his tone was curious rather than angry.

"I speak with him and his trine often. They're some of the few mechs who are able, and willing, to come up and speak with me."

Mirage nodded slowly. "It's good you get some company up there, I understand it's a very lonely if necessary job."

"Yeah. But at least there's nobody to laugh at my 'strange' ways," he said with a shrug. "I get a lot of strange looks because I never learned how not to be myself."

"We are all meant to act a certain, general way," Mirage said in distaste. "I've been rigorously brought up a certain way, I cannot delete it all over night and yet I am suppose to do just that."

"That's just not possible! Let us try to induct them into our society and show them just how easy it is to denounce the way they were brought up to think and feel, what is normal!" Cosmos said heatedly, his voice rising in volume.

"Calm yourself," Mirage said gently as a few bots looked this way. "If things must go wrong today, I would prefer it wasn't due to us. Young Bumblebee is trying to do a good thing, even if it doesn't work out."

Cosmos sighed. "I'm sorry. I just...I'm sick of how they treat us when we do something strange."

"I know," Mirage said gently. "But you'll feel worse if you do something to spoil it. Let's enjoy this calm while it lasts, you should try and encourage those young fliers over to the appropriate table, they look to jittery to go."

Cosmos giggled and leaned in. "Looks like Hound is eyeing you anyways. I'll see ya later."

The flier waved and hurried over to the Aerialbots. He smiled kindly and bowed deeply.

"Hello young ones," he said in ancient. "Would you bless me with your company on this pleasant evening?"

"Ooh, yes please," Fireflight said eagerly, he'd been eyeing Skyfire and Powerglide with complete fascination.

"If it's not too much trouble," Sliverbolt interjected politely.

Cosmos chuckled. "Would you like to come and sit with us? You seem interested in us."

"We are," Fireflight exclaimed, his optics wide with curiosity. "Can we go, Sliverbolt?"

"Come now, you'll be no bother," Cosmos assured him. "We'd be pleased to share with you."

Fireflight beamed, he wanted to know why they'd painted themselves different colours. Slingshot looked a bit sullen but then he normally did. Skydive looked vaguely interested as did Sliverbolt. The last member of the Airelbots looked a bit unsure but he didn't raise any objections, so Cosmos lead them over to his fellow fliers.

_Author's note. What can they tell the Airelbots about the flier culture? How does Bumblebee's relationship develop with Cosmos? Find out next time, until then._


End file.
